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Fast track supermarket queues

To help not only those of you buying stuff, but also those who sell it.
  (+5, -2)
(+5, -2)
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I work for a supermarket. I am 16 and I am trained to use the tills. Whenever someone wants to purchase alcohol I have to hold up a piece of orange card so that a supervisor can authorise me to sell the alcohol. This is not only impratical on a busy saturday, when there are hundreds of customers and not enough supervisors, but annoying to me and the customer.

I propose that we have a sign in front of the check out that says "If you would like to be processed quickly and you want to purchase alcohol, please go to another till." This sign would only be in front of tills that have people who can't sell alcohol until supervised, which would mean that although some people may not want to go to another till, they can always have the option of not having to wait 5 minutes whilst someone like me holds up a piece of orange card.

kaz, Nov 30 2001


phoenix, Nov 30 2001

       I don't know where you work, [kaz], but when I worked in a British supermarket, it was much as you describe: cashiers under 18 weren't supposed to serve alcohol, but they had a tricky solution. The cashiers used to have to call a supervisor, but the supermarket then finessed the regulations so that if there was an over-18 at the next till (or possibly even the next-but-one), they'd just pretend that there was inter-checkout supervision going on, and the cashier would put the alcohol through the till. That was even faster, but I'm not sure about the legal status.   

       [[[Fascinating fact: in Britain, it's illegal to serve alcohol to a police officer in uniform]]]
pottedstu, Nov 30 2001

       Instead they could microfilm the ID of every customer and upload the film reels to pubwan.
LoriZ, Dec 01 2001

       Actually, I think I _may_ have seen this in a supermarket here in the UK (Safeway's, maybe?) - a sign in front of the till saying, "This cashier is under 18, and not able to sell alcohol products to customers." or summat like that. I'm not at all sure, though.
Guy Fox, Dec 02 2001

       If your customers actually drank the alcohol before they put the container onto the checkout belt then you would only be serving them with a receptacle.
maggie, Dec 02 2001

       Anything which expedites my visit to a supermarket gets a croissant. I hope that this sign would be visible from further away than the start of the conveyer, otherwise I could have queued for fifteen minutes before realising that I need to be elsewhere.
angel, Dec 03 2001

       Just for the amusement value, a more extreme example of this: When I worked for Avis as a driver, I drove their cars for 8-16 hours a day.   

       Later, I wanted to rent one, and I couldn't. I was too young.
StarChaser, Dec 03 2001

       The most extreme example? 'You're old enough to kill, but too young for voting.' (P. F. Sloan - Eve of Destruction.)
angel, Dec 04 2001

       When I was 17, I could shoplift vodka but not buy it.
pottedstu, Dec 04 2001

       The difference is, I COULD afford it, but the company's rules said you had to be 25 to rent a car because you were a liability otherwise. But I drove the same cars every day...
StarChaser, Dec 07 2001

       Catherine Breillat, the director of A Ma Soeur wrote a book at 16 that she wasn't alowed to read until she was 17 under French Law
jellyneck, Dec 07 2001

       I've known several people who have built airplanes but couldn't fly them as they hadn't pilot's licenses. In fact, this is not that uncommon amongst the experimental aircraft set.
bristolz, Dec 07 2001

       i tried to apply for a sales position at a lingerie store, but they told me they don't hire men. is that discrimination?
mihali, Dec 07 2001

       I think that it is shortsighted as a fair number of lingerie sales are to men. Would not men be more comfortable if they purchased lingerie from a male salesperson (provided they were truly savvy about the subject)?
bristolz, Dec 07 2001

       I understood you the first time
po, Dec 08 2001

       Po (Assuming you meant me) this is aimed at the others, who apparently did not.   

       I could afford to rent the car.
I had a drivers' license.
I had insurance that would cover it.
My job was to drive the very same cars from where they were to where they were needed.

       The single, solitary reason I could not rent a car was that I was not old enough, despite the fact that I worked for the company as a driver and there was a good chance that the car I rented would have been delivered to that location BY ME.
StarChaser, Dec 08 2001

       How do who do what?
StarChaser, Dec 08 2001

       cut and paste so damn quick
po, Dec 08 2001

       Hit 'stop' before the annotation window disappears, fix it, then delete the other.
StarChaser, Dec 08 2001

       The soloution is simple. In the supermarket that I work in we have 14 checkouts, 4 of which are non alcohol - ie they are clearly marked as not being able to serve alcohol. Simply place under 18's on these checkouts. If all the staff on duty (as sometimes happens) are under 18 then the sign idea which explains that the cashier is under aged is placed at the checkout could be used, but the supervisor should always be on hand to authorise the sale.
tarby, Jan 24 2002

       Rods Tiger What a hideous idea. These are just young adults trying to earn a few bucks/pounds. If they wanted to wear some sort of badge / collar / armband / apparel effect......(writer sees stars) nevermind they already do. stupid namebrands.
I2RI, Sep 16 2003

       At the Hyde Park Co-op (infamous as the only major option around here), underage cashiers ask -the customer- to scan alcohol! While peeved more broadly at the silliness of current drug law, rather than at the byzantine skirt around it here, I'm also tempted to demand pay for doing what the cashier is paid to do. If I sprain something scanning a magnum of malt liquor, can I get worker's compensation?
n-pearson, Sep 16 2003

       I work for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, and as a workers’ comp nazi, it is my pleasure to say – ‘no comp for you!’
Ichthus, Sep 03 2004


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